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Tag: Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA)

  • Presidency defends MMIA terminal rebuild, compares $500m project to $19bn JFK renovation

    Presidency defends MMIA terminal rebuild, compares $500m project to $19bn JFK renovation

    The Presidency has defended the recently approved N712.3 billion pull-down-and-rebuild contract for Terminal One of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos, describing it as modest in comparison to similar global airport infrastructure projects.

    The Federal Executive Council (FEC), at its last meeting, gave the green light for the complete demolition and reconstruction of the aging terminal, a decision that has stirred mixed reactions across the country.

    However, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Tope Ajayi, on Sunday weighed in on the debate via a post on his verified X handle, @TheTope_Ajayi, offering perspective by comparing the Lagos project to the ongoing $19 billion overhaul of the John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport in New York.

    Read Also: FG awards N1bn to FUD for innovation hubs, parks

    “Anyone who has travelled through the JFK airport in New York in the last 3 years will see extensive renovation work that is going on at the United States’ premier international airport. JFK is being renovated at the cost of $19 billion”, Ajayi wrote.

    He noted that in contrast, Nigeria’s remodelling of MMIA Terminal One is estimated at about $500 million in dollar terms, describing it as a “modest cost by all standards and at the level and scale of work that will be executed.”

    The MMIA Terminal One, built in the 1970s and commissioned in 1979, has long struggled with infrastructure deficits, capacity limitations, and maintenance issues, prompting calls for a comprehensive overhaul.

    The Presidency’s intervention aimed at reassuring Nigerians that the administration’s investment in critical aviation infrastructure is both necessary and comparatively prudent.

    The government has said the project is part of broader efforts to upgrade Nigeria’s airport facilities to meet global standards and support growing passenger and cargo volumes.

  • Our flight experiences, by passengers on Ethiopian Airlines aircraft

    Two passengers – former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the Director General of Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Ambassador Ayo Olukani – have recounted their experiences aboard an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 777-300 that flew into inclement weather preparatory to landing at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, on May 29.

    They were among the 394 passengers and crew members aboard the aircraft, which took off from Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, en route Lagos.

    Obasanjo and Olukani were returning from Addis Ababa, where they attended a stakeholders’ meeting on Continental Trade and Implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AFCFTA).

    The meeting ended on May 28 in the Ethiopian capital.

    They said the pilots of the aircraft followed standard operating procedures and precautionary measures in the circumstance that led to final approach of the aircraft by smoothly pulling up and subsequently lining up with the runway for a second approach.

    Obasanjo, who had been erroneously reported by his aide not to be on flight, said there was nothing unusual about the flight.

    Speaking to an online platform, the former President said he was unperturbed about the development.

    He said: “I was on the Ethiopian Airline. Rain just came down heavily. The pilot thought he could land; and he landed. He touched down. But I think he took a swift decision that he had to take off again.

    “So, he took off. If he did not, I think he probably would have overrun the runway. He then apologised and said he would try to land again. He tried again, and we landed safely. And we all clapped.”

    On his reaction while the pilot initiated the safety precautionary steps, Obasanjo said: “One man, who was next to me, said: ‘Oga, you no worry?’ I said: ‘If I worry, what should I do? If you are on a plane and you have a situation like this, why should you worry?’ So, I left everything in the hands of God.”

    The former military leader and President said the pilot first landed the plane at 12:20 p.m. before the incident but finally landed safely on return at 12:30 p.m.

    Read Also: Boeing sued over Ethiopian Airlines crash

    “He touched the ground. Then he took off and apologised and landed again at about 12.30 p.m. We spent just about 10 minutes in the air before we landed again,” he said.

    Olukani said: “I thank you all for your calls and messages concerning the flight from Addis Ababa, where I had gone to represent NACCIMA at the African Union/United Nations stakeholders’ dialogue on the African Continental Free Trade Area.

    “My phone has been ringing off the hook. All I can say is that the whole event about flight ET 901 was simply sensationalised and exaggerated, probably because former Obasanjo was on that flight.

    “And it was not as bad as they are painting it. Aborted landings and second approach are normal in aviation in such weather conditions with pouring rain.

    “The captain simply followed standard operating procedures and precautionary measures in the circumstances on the final approach.

    “He pulled up smoothly and it was a steady climb; thereafter, he lined up with the runway for a second approach. And we had what in aviation circle is known as XTD: Excellent Touch Down. Former President Obasanjo and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) have also responded to correct the story. I thank you all, all the same.”

    Also, aviation experts have cautioned against sensational reporting, saying missed flight approach by any aircraft pilot does not amount to escaping an air crash.

     

  • Power outage hits Lagos airport again

    The Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos was on Thursday hit by a temporary power outage which affected the D Wing of the terminal.

    Mrs Henrietta Yakubu, General Manager, Corporate Affairs, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), said the power disruption was caused by a minor electrical fault.

    Yakubu said: “FAAN wishes to inform the general public of a temporary power outage at the D Wing of Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos. The outage is due to a minor electrical fault.

    “Meanwhile, our engineers are already working to rectify the fault and normalcy will be restored soon.’’

    She however explained that the outage did not affect flight operations at the nation’s busiest airport.

    Read Also: ‘Lagos better under under APC leadership’

    Yakubu said that FAAN remained committed to the safety and comfort of travellers at all times.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the MMIA was on November  7, 2018 affected by a power outage lasting several hours which affected flight operations.

    Aviation stakeholders had expressed concern over the ugly development and called on the Federal Government to create an independent power supply for the MMIA to befit its Category One status.

    NAN

     

  • Sowore faults exclusion in presidential debate

    The presidential candidate of African Action Congress (AAC), Mr. Omoyele Sowore has said that his non-inclusion in the planned Presidential debate organised by the Nigeria Elections Debate Group (NEDG) in collaboration with the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (NBC) was the beginning of electoral fraud in the forthcoming general elections.

    This is as he insisted that Boko Haram was still in control of some Local Governments in the country, contrary to the position of the government that the sect had been decimated.

    Sowore stated this on Thursday at Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos during an interview with airport correspondents after he arrived from United States, aboard Delta Air Lines.

    Sowore insisted that President Muhammadu Buhari was already jittery over the outcome of the 2019 polls and would make attempts to rig the election in his favour, which he said would be severely kicked against by the people.

    He declared that he was ready for debates on the election, stressing that he and his followers would fight to ensure his inclusion on the list of debaters for the election.

    Read Also: Sowore’s party gets INEC nod

    He emphasized that he was the most prepared and popular of all the candidates and wondered why his name would not be included in list.

    He said: “What we know is that Mr. President and his party are already afraid about conducting free and fair polls in 2019. The beginning of the electoral fraud was the non-inclusion of my name among the presidential debaters.

    “We won’t allow this to deter us because for us, the debate has commenced. Apart from using Nigerian media, there are some other media where issues are already been discussed.”

    On the refusal of Buhari to give assent to the Electoral Act as passed by the National Assembly, Sowore said the president wanted to perpetuate fraud with his non-assent.

    He said that if assented to, the Act would reduce corruption in the system.

    On the resurgent Boko Haram, Sowore insisted that the sect had not been decimated by the government.

    He said the terrorist group was still in charge of about 14 local governments in the North East.

  • Immigration boss approves expansion of visa on arrival counters

    Comptroller General of Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) Mr. Mohammed Bandede has given approval for the expansion of Visa On Arrival counters of the service at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport( MMIA), Lagos Command.

    Currently, NIS has two Visa on Arrival counters at the D and E wings of the airport.

    The move to increase the counters was sequel to available space, that would make it conducive for foreigners seeking visas on arrival into the country.

    Investigations reveal that Visa on Arrival counters at the two wings of the Lagos International Airport, could only accommodate about 30 passengers.

    The new arrangement scheduled to take effect in a few  weeks, will now provide more space for processing of passengers and significantly increase turn around time.

    A source close to immigration in Abuja yesterday told our correspondent that with the expansion of the counters, no fewer than 100 foreigners requiring visas on arrival in the country would be attended to from each wings of the airport simultaneously.

    The source said that apart from creating a more conducive environment for travellers, it would also shore up the image of the country in the international community.

    The immigration source also attributed the expansion to the ease-of-doing-business policy of the Federal Government, which came onboard June last year.

    Read Also: Immigration arrests illegal immigrants heading for Ekiti

    He explained that immigration was one of the government agencies that benefited most from the policy, saying that the command now has more foreigners coming into the country and are issued visas on arrival with ease unlike in the past when they went through rigours to obtain visas.

    The source said: “We need to improve on our image and ways of doing things in the country. Since the ease-of-doing-business policy of the Federal Government came onboard about a year ago, immigration has benefited immensely from the scheme. We now have more travelers either in business or tourism that visit the country.

    “The expansion of the visa-on-arrival counters will further improve our relationship with passengers. at it is, when two flights land simultaneously, the passengers are unnecessarily delayed at the airport, but once it is expanded, passengers would spend less time with us and be more comfortable.

    It would be recalled that the airport command about a month ago said that it had issued at least 12, 000 visas to foreigners entering Nigeria through the airport in the past six months.

    A source close to the service in Abuja had told our correspondent that on a weekly basis, the command issues at least 500 visas to foreigners on arrival through the command while it goes as high as 1,000 visas in some weeks.

  • Campaign funds: Group commends EFCC for investigating Ochekpe, others

    Campaign funds: Group commends EFCC for investigating Ochekpe, others

    The Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) has been commended for investigation the embezzlement of government money by previous administration to fund the 2015 elections.

    The group, Coalition of Youths Congress of Nigeria said what EFCC is doing is instructive as another election year approaches and expressed the hope that those involved in diverting public fund to finance elections must be punished to deter others in future.

    The group, which addressed journalists  Monday at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos was reacting to the arraignment of a former Minister of Water Resources, Mrs. Sarah Ochekpe, former Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party in Plateau State, Mr. Raymond Dabo and the Coordinator of Jonathan/Sambo re-election campaign in Plateau State, Evangelist Lyons Sunday Jatau who were dragged to court over allegation of embezzlement of N450 million belonging to the federal government.

    The leader of the group, Mr. John Pam said the anti-corruption stance of the present administration would ensure that such perfidy and use of money meant for the development of the country by politicians at the corridor of power would not happen again.

    The trio would be arraigned on February 13, 2018 at a Federal High Court sitting in Jos, the Plateau state capital on charges of receiving the money from the former Minister of Petroleum, Mrs. Deziani Alison-Madueke, to finance the re-election of former President Goodluck Jonathan and his deputy.

    At the first hearing of the suit, Ochekpe had told trial Justice Justice Musa Haruna Kurya that she gave the money to the late PDP governorship candidate in the 2015 gubernatorial election in Plateau G.N.S Pwajok.

    The group therefore urged EFCC to leave no stone unturned to make sure that money politics in Nigeria is discouraged and also to ensure that those in the custody of public fund do not deep their hands into the till to serve themselves.

    “We are commending EFCC for taking these people to court so that when found guilty justice will take its cause, which will sound as a warning to others who may want to so corrupt themselves by diverting public funds meant for the provision of social amenities for our citizens. The interest of our group is to ensure corrupt free society and for the first time we have seen a government that is determined to rid this scourge from the country,” Pam said.

  • ‘4,281 deportees return through MMIA from Jan. to June’

    ‘4,281 deportees return through MMIA from Jan. to June’

    No fewer than 4,281 Nigerians were deported from several European, American and African countries through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport ( MMIA ), Lagos, between January and June this year.

    Figures obtained from the Ministry of Interior showed that the deportees comprised of 2,823 males and 1,458 females.
    According to the document, 2251 of the deportees arrived in the country through chartered flights while 2030 others came by regular flights.

    Some of the deportees, who were allegedly involved in criminal activities in their host countries, were handed over to the Police, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency and National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons for further prosecution.

    Also, a total of 691,934 travellers departed while another 560,988 arrived in the country through the Lagos airport during the same period.

    Out of these numbers, 519,215 were Nigerians while another 179,739 were foreigners departing the country.

    During the period, 550,988 passengers arrived in Nigeria through MMIA comprising 392,237 Nigerians and 158,751 foreigners.

    NAN

  • FAAN inaugurates multi-storey car park at Lagos airport

    FAAN inaugurates multi-storey car park at Lagos airport

    Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria ( FAAN ), in partnership with Seymour Aviation Ltd on Wednesday inaugurated a multi-storey car park with a capacity for about 1, 300 cars at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport ( MMIA ), Lagos.

    The six-storey facility, built through a Public Private Partnership ( PPP ) was financed by Fidelity Bank Plc.

    The Managing Director of FAAN, Mr Saleh Dunoma, said at the occasion that the facility which would be for a 30-year tenor, would solve the problem of indiscriminate parking within and around the airport.

    He said: “I wish to state that this facility is long overdue and equally timely as it will improve passenger facilitation and reduce the menace of indiscriminate parking within and around the airport.

    “This project is one of the numerous partnerships FAAN has, and is still exploring to improve the infrastructure development at our airports. ”

    Dunoma, who was represented by Alhaji Salisu Daura, the Director of Engineering Services in the agency, said the authority had introduced some measures to ensure a seamless management of the car park by the concessionaire.

    These include restriction at the departure frontage to a drop zone only, enforcement of a no-pick -up zone at the “D” and “E” arrival of the terminal building and designation of parking lots to all escort vehicles at the old temporary car park.

    He added that a task force comprising of MMIA management staff, aviation security, Nigeria Air Force, Nigeria Police and tow vehicle operators, had been constituted to enforce the restrictions and tow any vehicle parked in front of the terminal building and in the airport vicinity.

    Dunoma appealed to stakeholders, passengers and other airport users to cooperate with the airport management for an effective operation.

    Also speaking, the Managing Director of Seymour Aviation Ltd, Mr Francis Ikenga, described the car park as a milestone for the country as it met all international standards.

    Ikenga said it was equipped with the state-of-the-art facilities including Closed Circuit Television ( CCTV ) cameras mounted on every floor and around the premises, adequate conveniences for both male and female users on every floor and elevators.

    “To ensure uninterrupted power supply, the facility is equipped with a standby generator that can provide power for 24 hours.

    “Passengers will also enjoy protection from the effects of weather elements as they disembark from their vehicles within the facility and move into the terminal without using an umbrella,”he said.

    On his part, the Managing Director of Fidelity Bank, Mr Nnamdi Okonkwo, said the facility would be of great benefit to passengers and airport users.

    NAN

  • FAAN apologises over power outage at Lagos airport

    FAAN apologises over power outage at Lagos airport

    The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria ( FAAN ) has expressed regret over Wednesday’s minor power outage that disrupted business at the terminal of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport ( MMIA ), Lagos.

    READ ALSO: FAAN rejigs security arrangement airports

    Mrs Henrietta Yakubu, the General Manager, Corporate Communications, said in a statement on Thursday that the agency regretted the disruption which occurred on Wednesday night.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that for about an hour activities at the airport came to a halt following an outage as travellers struggled to conduct their activities in the darkness.

    READ ALSO: FAAN collaborates with states on airport land protection

    Yakubu said FAAN engineers were immediately mobilised to restore power to the public concourse.

    “The airport on Wednesday experienced a minor power outage but our team of engineers has immediately swung into action and normalcy had been restored in the affected areas.

    “FAAN wishes to apologise to passengers, airlines and the general public for the inconvenience caused by this interruption.

    “The authority is assuring airport users of safety and security at airports at all times,” she said.

    FAAN had recently attributed incessant power outage at the airport to the ongoing construction work at the new  terminal.

    Underground electric cables are being inadvertently excavated by workers at the construction site.

    READ ALSO: Stop airports’ concession, FAAN petitioners urge Senate

  • NDLEA arrests man with methamphetamine

    NDLEA arrests man with methamphetamine

    The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) said it has arrested a man with parcels of methamphetamine (an addictive stimulant) valued at N31 million at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.

    In a statement on Wednesday, the agency said the suspect was arrested during outward screening of passengers on a South African Airline flight to Johannesburg.

    “The parcels of drug tested positive for methamphetamine and weighed 3.435 kg with a street value of N31 million,” the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quoted the agency as saying in the statement.

    “The drug was detected during a routine check on a passenger on South African Airline flight to South Africa.

    “Two bags belonging to a man (names withheld) a 45-year-old, were found to contain parcels of methamphetamine.

    “Inside the bags were food items, ingredients and clothes, but underneath were a thin parcel of narcotics carefully concealed.

    “He was immediately arrested, investigation is ongoing,’’ the agency said.

    NDLEA said the suspect, who resides in South Africa, claimed that the bags were given to him by a friend.

    Meanwhile, the NDLEA Chairman, Mr Muhammad Abdallah, has warned members of the public to beware of new tricks employed by drug trafficking cartels.

    “Drug traffickers recruit mules by enticing them with money.

    “They are very clever in concealing drugs, the agency now detects drugs in bags, electronics, foodstuff and clothes among others.

    “We strongly advise that all passengers should endeavour to pack their bags themselves and avoid taking bags for others.

    “Ignorance is no excuse in drug trafficking. The suspect will be charged with  unlawful exportation of narcotics,’’ Abdallah said.